Table service
The Cake Bake Shop Restaurant by Gwendolyn Rogers
Filmed on site — video published December 15, 2025 · watch it
The short answer
The dessert-led restaurant at Disney's BoardWalk, in the old ESPN Club space, open since October 2024. Twelve entrées average $35.67 and every cake slice is $22 on Disney's own menu in September 2026. Afternoon tea is $95 an adult. No Disney dining plan.
Melissa’s visit
Filmed at the seasonal Dinner with Santa in December 2025: a set three-course menu at $200 an adult, not the everyday one. It covers the room, the service, the mains and two of the cakes.
- 0:00Intro
- 0:21Booking The Santa Dinner
- 1:34What's Included
- 1:55Pricing Breakdown
- 2:40Cake Bake Shop Location
- 3:18Drink And Dinner Menu
- 4:38Is Cake Bake Worth Visiting?
- 5:15Full Santa Dinner Review
- 6:14Service And Atmosphere
- 7:13Personalized Menu Details
- 7:35Meeting Santa
- 10:00Disney PhotoPass With Santa
- 10:39Rose Bubbles Drink Review
- 11:20Charcuterie Course
- 14:53Entree Reviews
- 17:05Meeting Gwendolyn
- 18:28Cake Bake Dessert Reviews
- 20:42$6,000 Crystal Jacket
- 21:24Take-Home Gift
- 22:13Gingerbread Martini & Hot Chocolate
- 22:35Pixie Dust Wish
- 24:56Behind-The-Scenes Restaurant Tour
- 27:46Is The Santa Dinner Worth It?
- 28:31Letter To Santa
- 29:18Final Thoughts
- Where
- Disney's BoardWalk, on Crescent Lake, in the space that was the ESPN Club. Disney's page carries a notice that the Skyliner closes from 24 to 30 January 2027, with buses instead. · about the resort
- Cuisine
- American and French café, with cakes
- Reservation
- Book a few days ahead
- Booking opens
- 60 days ahead, 6:00am Eastern — and if you are staying at a Disney resort, day 60 books your whole stay, up to ten days. Off site, it is 60 days for each date separately, so the same table is gone before your window opens. Work out your date.
- Typical spend
- about $36 a head · checked Sep 12, 2026
- Dress code
- Casual
- Noise
- moderate
- Non-resort guests
- Yes — you do not need to stay here
- Dining plan
- Not on Disney’s dining plan · Disney’s own listing, Sep 22, 2026
$18.75cheapest$29.47median$47.50dearest
Mean main course from Disney’s own menu. Drinks, sides and tip are on top. Read Sep 21, 2026.
Is it worth the money?
For the room and a celebration, yes. For the cake alone, reviewers say no.
The room is spectacular, especially at Christmas. Disney Tourist Blog's review, last updated 29 August 2026, called the holiday decorations "a glistening winter wonderland", with a rotating booth and an animated Santa. It named the best audience: couples, ladies' nights, and girls aged about 5 to 15.
The cakes don't justify the price. The same review found them "nothing special" for the money, and not the two-to-three servings a slice is sometimes said to feed. Its bill for two was about $140, similar to Flying Fish next door. Prices on the menu then were a little different — a $27 burger, a $40 salmon and $23 cake slices, against $28, $43 and $22 now.
It opened on 24 October 2024, per BlogMickey, in the space that was the ESPN Club.
No Disney dining plan. Disney's page marks it "Dining Plan Meals Not Accepted", and its listing carries no plan tag for any year.
Who it’s right for
Birthdays, girls' trips and anyone who wants a pretty room for a treat. Afternoon tea fans.
Who it’s wrong for
Anyone on the Disney dining plan. Anyone who judges a cake by its taste per dollar. Anyone wanting a hearty meal for the price.
What is actually good
Read from Disney's own menus for The Cake Bake Shop on 12 September 2026.
Twelve dinner entrées, $25 to $61, averaging $35.67. A roasted leek pasta and chicken tenders are $25, and a croque-monsieur $27 (croque-madame $29). Classic and vegetarian burgers are $28. A salmon sandwich and a shrimp po'boy are $36, and chicken piccata $37. A roasted salmon filet is $43, crab cakes $53, and steak frites au poivre $61. Six of the twelve entrées cost more than $34.99.
Hors d'oeuvres, $19 to $48: truffle frites $19, an avocado stack $22, gumbo poutine and burrata $26, a baked fontina $28, crab beignets $29, and a charcuterie board $48. Salads are $25 to $28, soups $13 to $22.
The cakes are the point, and every slice is $22 — Gwendolyn's Earl Grey cake, raspberry champagne, red velvet, carrot, a "Pixie Fetti" birthday cake, and seasonal slices among them. Pies run $14 to $18, and pastries $5 to $18.
Roses of Gold Afternoon Tea is $95 an adult and $65 a child aged 12 and under, plus tax and gratuity, with endless pots of French tea, scones, cakes and finger sandwiches.
Disney bands it $$$, "$35 to $59.99 per adult", at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The dinner entrée average of $35.67 sits just inside it.
Portions
The cake slices are big — Disney Tourist Blog judged them about one and a half times a normal slice, not the two or three servings sometimes claimed.
Allergies and dietary needs
A roasted leek pasta and a vegetarian burger, gluten-free macarons, and salads. Disney's listing prints no allergy-friendly versions, so ask the restaurant directly.
Disney publishes one of its seven allergen menus for this location — milk — listing 18 allergen-friendly items from $8.00 to $10.00, read 16 September 2026. That is a menu you can check before you travel. Most locations have none, and there the conversation happens at the counter: see our food allergy guide.
Common questions
- How much is afternoon tea at the Cake Bake Shop?
- Roses of Gold Afternoon Tea is $95 an adult and $65 a child aged 12 and under, plus tax and gratuity, on Disney's own menu in September 2026.
- How much is a slice of cake at the Cake Bake Shop?
- $22 a slice for every cake on Disney's dinner menu in September 2026. Disney Tourist Blog judged a slice about one and a half normal portions.
- Does the Cake Bake Shop take the Disney Dining Plan?
- No. Disney's own page marks it "Dining Plan Meals Not Accepted".
- What was the Cake Bake Shop before?
- The ESPN Club at Disney's BoardWalk. The Cake Bake Shop opened in its place on 24 October 2024.
Sources
- Walt Disney World official — Cake Bake Shop dinner menu, read in a browser on 12 September 2026. Twelve entrées $25–$61; hors d'oeuvres $19–$48; salads $25–$28; soups $13–$22; eleven cake slices at $22; pies $14–$18; pastries $5–$18. — Disney official · checked
- Walt Disney World official — Roses of Gold Afternoon Tea menu, read 12 September 2026: "$95 per adult, plus tax and gratuity"; "$65 per child (Ages 12 & under)"; endless pots of French tea. — Disney official · checked
- Walt Disney World official — Cake Bake Shop restaurant page: breakfast 7:00–10:30 AM, lunch 11:00 AM–4:55 PM, dinner 5:00–11:00 PM; banded "$$$ ($35 to $59.99 per adult)" at every meal; "Dining Plan Meals Not Accepted"; views of Crescent Lake; the Skyliner closure notice for 24–30 January 2027. — Disney official · checked
- Disney Tourist Blog — Cake Bake Shop restaurant review, last updated 29 August 2026: in the former ESPN Club; the Christmas decorations "a glistening winter wonderland"; burger $27, salmon $40, cake slices $23; the cakes "nothing special" for the price and about 1.5x a normal slice; about $140 for two. — reported by · checked
- BlogMickey, 24 October 2024 — The Cake Bake Shop now open at Disney's BoardWalk: the bakery that morning, the restaurant from 4 PM. — reported by · checked